Congregants keep faith; suspect arrested after blaze

Saturday, December 1, 2012 -- Anonymous (not verified)

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Local Coverage

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Author(s):

O'Ryan Johnson

Matt Stout

Congregants of a Brewster church ravaged by an early morning fire set by an arsonist were undaunted in their faith yesterday, saying the loss of their beloved house of worship won’t destroy the spirit of the congregation.

“That building is just a building, built with man’s hands. It’s not the church,” said Estella Bologna of Harwich, who has attended the Cape Cod Bible Alliance Church for more than two decades. “The people are the church.”

Adam Finnegan, 29, of Brewster was arrested in connection with yesterday’s three-alarm, 3 a.m. blaze, state Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan and Brewster Police Chief Richard J. Koch Jr. said late last night. Brewster will be charged with one count of burning a building, Coan and Koch said. Coan added investigators do not believe the fire is related to a recent string of arsons in southeastern Massachusetts.

The Rev. Myron Heckman, pastor, said the church that the congregation has flocked to for more than 25 years is a total loss.

“There’s tears and shock and distress,” Heckman said, adding that the church, built in 1986 and later expanded, will survive. “We’re going to go on,” he said.

John Bologna, who was on the building committee when the church moved to Cape Cod, was one of the first congregants at the fire early yesterday. By the time he arrived, the building had been consumed by flames and nearly all of it had fallen or been knocked down by firefighters chasing hot spots.

“What powerful image stands in my mind is the north wall of the church was still standing and there’s a big tall window about 15 feet tall, and the shape of the cross was built into the window,” John Bologna said. “One of the firemen that was out there said, ‘We have to knock that down,’ and the other one said, ‘No. The fire’s out. It’s already doused. I’m not going to knock down that window.’ I heard him say that. It was one of those teary moments. I shook his hand and I said ‘God bless you. Thank you very much.’â€‰”

John Bologna said he was told the blaze was set on the building’s exterior, but why someone would want to wreak such destruction upon a small congregation is beyond his comprehension.

“It’s hard for me to understand the wickedness in some people,” he said. “We all have our moments, I guess. We need to pray for them, whoever it is that started the fire.”

Church services will continue uninterrupted tomorrow at Stony Brook Elementary School in Brewster.

“You can knock down the building,” John Bologna said, “but you can’t kill the spirit.”